


Tether

by heavvymetalqueen



Category: Metal Gear
Genre: Abuse, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-07-11
Updated: 2016-07-11
Packaged: 2018-07-23 00:37:33
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 366
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7459779
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/heavvymetalqueen/pseuds/heavvymetalqueen
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>He’s used to being his shadow, ever since he met him. That kid so full of fire, so alone. So like him.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Tether

He’s used to being his shadow, ever since he met him. That kid so full of fire, so alone. So like him.

That’s what people on Mother Base used to call him, _Eli’s shadow_ , because he always hovered a few inches off the ground, always a breath after Eli, long sleeves brushing his arms and shoulders, always tethered to him. 

When their roaring days together are over and they part, the tether just never breaks. It’s easy to stay together across the world when all Tretij has to do is blink and feel the contented wriggle of Eli’s mind as it touches his own. 

Of course there are side effects. When the Mantis takes over Tretij’s mind, Eli is affected too, that despicable man treating him in ways Tretij would never. Demeans him, abandons him, hurts him. 

Eli stays by his side through the abuse, keeps the link open even if there is very little left of Tretij by the end. And those few hours of sobbing clarity when they just hold, tired and worn until the Mantis is back - they can’t be possibly enough. 

But the link is still open when Snake’s bullets tear through his heart, finally ripping the Mantis out of him. 

Eli is screaming in his mind, desperately pulling at the link, trying to hold him back.

_I can’t lose you_

_I can’t do it without you_

and then, 

_wait for me_

And Tretij waits, because he never could deny Eli’s wishes, his beautiful, burning Eli - the bright candle that cast him as a shadow.

When Eli’s mind finally shuts down, devoured by the virus, Tretij thinks it’s finally over. They can stop fighting now. 

But.

Eli doesn’t come back to him. Eli stays behind, mangled and warped and patched into the old man, struggling for dominance with the kind of mind that made even the Mantis shy away. 

And Tretij follows, because he’s Eli’s shadow, and wherever he goes, he will follow. 

As long as they’re together, somehow, nothing is too hard to take, not even the anguished screams of a bloodied, broken little girl. 

As long as a shred of themselves is still clinging together, they can get through anything.


End file.
